Idaho Falls Redevelopment Agency

IDAHO FALLS REDEVELOPMENT AGENC Y P.O. BOX 50220 IDAHO FALLS, ID 83405 January 18, 2024 Regular Meeting Minutes Council Chambers Call to Order: Lee Radford called the meeting to order at 12:00. Members Present: Lee Radford, Chris Lee, Lisa Burtenshaw, Chris Harvey, Brent Thompson, Terri Gazdik Members Absent: Jon Walker Also Present: Wade Sanner Executive Director; Ann Peterson; Brad Cramer; Meghan Conrad, Esq. (via Teams); Brian Stevens, Cassie Auten, Renee Magee (via Teams) and interested citizens. Chris Lee has been appointed to the Agency in place of Kirk Larsen who was elected to City Council. Welcome Chris Lee Lisa Burtenshaw from the City Council has been appointed as the IFRA Member representing City Council in the place of Tom Hally. Chris Lee introduced herself. She is a broker/owner of Simply Home on 1st Street, has previously been involved in Citizen assignments including being vice-chair of a task committee for a business and economic development and the chair of the Citizens Review Committee for Idaho Falls Police Department Facilities. Lee has also had other city assignments in the past years. Radford stated that Chirs Lee brings real estate background as she has been the National President of the Women’s Association of Realtors and is originally from Chicago. Lisa Burtenshaw grew up in Idaho Falls as Lisa Meikle. Burtenshaw has been 10 years on School Board for District 91, then ran for City Council and has been serving on City Council for the last 3 years. She understands some about IFRA as she has seen things come through Council. She can now learn about the rest of the process and is excited to learn. She was the liaison to Community Development Services and Public Works and now is in Airports and Municipal Services. Lisa is a mechanical engineer by education and civic volunteer by profession. Radford stated that Lisa and her husband own businesses together and has made many contributions to the City through her service. 1. Modification to Agenda. Conrad stated that the agenda posted originally had an action item for the OPA related to the developers in Stanley Boge Revenue allocation area, and after conversations it wasn’t ready, so that item has been removed and the agenda was reposted, and that change needs to be acknowledged. Conrad asked the Board to take action to approve the agenda as modified. Gazdik moved to approve the modified agenda as presented, Thompson seconded the motion, and it passed unanimously. 2. Approval of Minutes December 21, 2023. Thompson moved to accept the Minutes for December 21, 2023, Gazdik seconded the motion, and the motion passed. Burtenshaw and Lee abstained from the vote as they did not attend the meeting of December 21, 2023. 3. Approval of Expenditures and Finance Report. Lee Radford presented the Finance Report dated January 18, 2024. In the River Commons Area: $50.00 to Rebecca Thompson for transcription of Minutes; $2,327.50 to Brad Cramer with Perspective Planning and Consulting for preparation of Eligibility Report for Snake River West; $3,656.00 to Elam and Burke for legal services; $2,878.15 to City of Idaho Falls for Administrative Services. In Eagle Ridge Area: $865.00 to Elam and Burke for legal services; $300.00 to City of Idaho Falls for administrative services. In Jackson Hole Junction: $300.00 to the City of Idaho Falls for Administrative Services. Thompson asked about the $2,878 to the City. Radford indicated that it is the allocation to be paid to the City monthly for the City to provide services. Wade Sanner asked Cassie Auten what the specific breakdown is. Auten stated that it is broken down by each employee’s participation on the projects, with an hourly rate and there is a benefit factor included as well. Auten stated that the overall cost is broken out into the 3 funds, currently 10% to Jackson Hole and Eagle Ridge and the rest goes to River Commons. Radford suggested introductions for the new members of the Board, so they can clearly understand what City personnel they are talking to. Cassie Auten works in finance department under Mark Hagedorn and is the IFRA Treasurer. She does the finance and budget items for IFRA. Brian Stevens works as a planner and GIS analyst and prepares maps for IFRA and works with whichever consultant is working for IFRA to provide them with base information and documentation. Stevens prepares the maps for the website and has tried to add value to the website. Radford stated that the website is important and has recently included the chart that was prepared to show the process, and key documents for each of the urban renewal areas. Ann Peterson Administrative Assistant for Community Development Services and prepares packets and ensures there is a quorum for meetings. Wade Sanner is the Community Development Services Director and Executive Director for IFRA. Danner directs staff to ensure the IFRA needs are met and State Statute is followed. Beckie Thompson is the recording secretary. Thompson types minutes and submits them to the Board for approval. Catherine Smith Economic Development Administrator for the City of Idaho Falls and for Mayors Office and Smith is helpful as possible whenever she can. Brad Cramer used to have Wade Sanner’s job and now works for INL and is a consultant with Perspective Planning and Consulting and writes reports for IFRA. Meghan Conrad with Elam and Burke, worked closely with Ryan Armbruster for years, and is an added value to the legal team. Terri Gazdik is in her 3rd term with the Board. Gazdik is treasurer for the Agency. Gazdik is a CPA in Idaho Falls and is volunteering with many other agencies. Radford stated that Gazdik has a great career with Cooper Norman and a leader in getting the Event Center pulled together. She knows construction accounting and development expertise. Chris Harvey has been on the board since 2017. Harvey is an attorney with the DOE. Harvey’s background is in land use and environmental and was previously in oil and gas industry in North Dakota. Brent Thompson recently retired as a commercial real estate appraiser. Prior to being an appraiser, he was involved in construction. Thompson is on the Board of Idaho Falls Country Club, and other outreach centers including the soup kitchen. This is his second term on this Board. Lee Radford was born down the street and hasn’t left since. Radford is an attorney and the Chair of the Agency for many years. He is proud of Idaho Falls and wants it to prosper. Thompson asked about the budget and asked why they don’t have the tax allocation revenues budgeted on the monthly budget. Auten stated that is something that can be added into the budget to actual report. Auten stated that the purpose of the report was to show what was budgeted to what was spent, but they can add the revenue side if that is something that he would like. Radford stated that they have the revenue side on the budget that they do in July and August, and they know what to expect from each area based on its taxable value. Radford agreed that the money comes in 2x a year in December and June tax payments. Thompson doesn’t want to create more printed paper but feels it might have some value to be shown. Thompson agreed that there won’t be much to be shown on a monthly basis as the figure will show and hold for 6 months. Gazdik stated that what is shown is what can be controlled with the expenditure side of things to monitor what was budgeted versus what has been expended. On City Administration they have used 50% of what was budgeted, and they are only 1/3 of the way through the year. They cannot control revenue, so it is not something that will provide information that is helpful as they monitor it on a monthly basis. Radford stated that the website has the audits and annual reports, and it could be helpful to add the annual budget that gets approved in July that will show the revenue coming, and that would be helpful for the public’s information. Auten will get that information to Stevens and Ann Peterson and Ann Peterson will get that to the Board Members. Burtenshaw asked about the fiscal year for the Agency. Gazdik indicated that it runs October 1 – September 30 budget year. Radford stated that they try to stay in line with what people expect from the City. Thompson moved to approve the Finance Report dated January 18, 2024, Gazdik seconded the motion and the motion passed unanimously. 4. Review of Draft Eligibility Report for Snake River West. Brad Cramer Perspective Planning and Consulting, LLC. Cramer took a moment to explain what the report is and the purpose. Cramer stated that prior to a district being created the Board and City Council have to determine that the properties are eligible pursuant to State Statute. The property has to meet 1 of the 15 criteria that the State Statute lays. If the property is found eligible it does not obligate the Board to create the area. If the report is approved next month, the City Council will receive it for approval next month. There is an outlined process in the appendix of the report. Cramer’s role is taking an independent look at the properties and determine if they are eligible. His contract is with the Agency and not the developer. Cramer will give an overview of the property for Snake River West and walk through the criteria and whether it met each item. Cramer showed the boundary of Eagle Ridge and the proposed Snake River West and how they intersect. The catalyst for this report was 2 properties in the middle of the two areas. Those parcels were not included in the original Eagle Ridge District. When Eagle Ridge was created the storage units south were in the County and the properties including the storage units, and south are still in the County. Properties can be put into a district if they are in the County, but they have to have approvals in order to make it happen, including sign off by the property owner, indicating that they are willing to be part of the district, and at the time of the District creation the property owners were not willing to be included. Cramer showed the proposed Boundary Change for Eagle Ridge, as well as the Snake River West. The parcels in the center are difficult to be considered as eligible because Pioneer Road is in the Eagle Ridge District, and a lot of the eligibility criteria focused around Pioneer Road, and because it cannot be considered for Snake River West unless it is deannexed, and without deannexation, there are a number of the criteria that will not be met with the central properties on their own. If they were to create a district on just the two parcels and not the road (if it is not deannexed) the revenues received from the development on the parcel could not be used and spent outside of the boundaries of the District, so although Pioneer road is the only road to service any development, if it remained in the Eagle Ridge Boundary and not in Snake River West Boundary, then funds from Snake River West cannot be spent in Eagle Ridge. Radford asked Cramer to go back just a bit and explain what an eligibility study is. Cramer stated that the reason for the eligibility report, is because the District will create a tax revenue financing revenue source, and the development that happens on the property, the taxes that are above the base comes to the agency to be spent on eligible items and projects within the district. This is not a tool that can be used lightly, and it has to be on properties that are eligible and not green field development. There needs to be some factor that makes the properties difficult to develop. Cramer labeled the areas into parcel A that were not in any district and parcel B that were part of Eagle Ridge. Cramer gave an overview of the property with a 1969 aerial showing residential and agricultural. Cramer showed development in 2023 that shows development around the parcels, but not on the parcels and the area in yellow looks similar to the map in 1969. The comprehensive plan shows this as a mixed-use corridor for residential and commercial uses. Parcel A is annexed and zoned Central Commercial. Criterion 1 – deals with substantial number of deteriorating structures, and if Parcel B is included, then this criterion is met. The outbuildings on Parcel B are deteriorating but the homes are in good condition. Criterion 2 – deals with age or obsolescence. They are older and deteriorating and were present in the 1969 aerial. This is met if Parcel B is included. Criterion 3, 4, 5 – deal with street layouts and all 3 were found to be met with Pioneer Road (S Curve). Pioneer parallels I15 and then the S curve goes south, then west then south, and as development happened in this area, it makes the traffic pattern outmoded, inadequate and difficult in terms of safety. As traffic numbers increase, the S curve presents challenges with visibility. There is a challenging intersection as it enters the Mountain America Event Center Parking lot. There is a disconnect between Pioneer and White-Water Drive, this is a key connection in order for traffic to flow in this area, but it hasn’t happened because development hasn’t happened on the west side of Porter Canal. The lack of connection between White Water and Pioneer is critical. There is curb gutter and sidewalk that would be needed. With Parcel B the criteria are met. Criterion 6 deals with faulty lot layout. Parcel B is challenging as Pioneer and I15 front the entire property and in order to find access to the property and sufficient line of site is difficult. If Parcel B is included criteria 6 is met. Criterion 7 deals with unsuitable topography. There is basalt in the area, but the resources that was accessed did not find that there was a lot of basalt in the area. Criterion 7 is not met. Criteria 8 and 12 deal with unsafe and unsanitary. 8 and 12 are met due to the S curve on Pioneer Road. There is a lack of visibility with traffic coming south and that condition makes it unsafe and the criterion are met. Criterion 9, 10 and 11 was not met. Criteria 13, 14, 15 are similar and deal with issues that may be preventing normal and logical growth and economic underdevelopment. Pioneer road and the utility system are the most important factors for 13 and 14. The sewer line does not continue down Pioneer. The other sewer line is south supporting the event center. Water is better and comes to the east with a connection to White Water, with a stub north of Pioneer, but does not continue along Pioneer. The cost of development to improve Pioneer and extend the utilities makes it hard to develop. There is no opportunity for cost sharing, and the entire burden is on one developer and contributes to 13, 14, 15 criteria being met. If Pioneer Road is included, then 13 and 14 are met. Criteria 15 is met with Parcel A on its own. The parcel has been vacant and in the same state since 1969 with development happening around it. This parcel has not developed as fast as the areas in the surrounding property. A lot of the Criteria is met with. Cramer presented the 10 percent limitation. The total base value of all of the Urban Renewal Districts do not exceed the total valuation of the City. Cramer gave a visual and it is less than 1% of the City’s total valuation. Radford stated that Parcel B is owned by LLKM Properties. And Radford has represented LLKM in some things and he will now recuse himself. Burtenshaw recused herself as Property owner B is an in-law to her. Thompson will continue to Chair. Matt Bridenstein stated that 13, 14, and 15 as they develop the site plan, they have both easements of Battle Creek and Porter Canal easements, and they are causing difficulty to work around. Bridenstein stated that Battle Creek Canal is on the neighboring site, portion runs from White water where the bridge will be. They take a 30’ easement on either side from the center line. The Porter Canal has a 15’ easement from the high-water mark. Bridenstein didn’t know if that was necessary to be included in the report. Cramer stated there is a picture in page 7 of the report. Thompson asked where the plans stand for the development, and what is the schedule. Dan Bridenstein stated that they have been working with new Sweden irrigation and they are working through easement issues, and waiting to see what the utility companies will require and then they will be able to finalize design. They are close on the design for the A Parcel. Bridenstein stated that they have worked with LLKM properties, and they will annex that entire parcel B. Matt Bridenstein stated that the application was submitted yesterday, and the fee needs to be paid. Dan Bridenstein stated that they have retained a survey company and want to get that on the next agenda. Conrad stated that today is a discussion and presentation, and this will come back at February meeting and they are moving forward on the first amendment to de-annex the parcels and hopefully have a draft at the February meeting. They need them deannexed by the 4th Monday in July. Thompson asked if deannextion is separate. Conrad stated that they are two separate actions and the deannextion requires an amendment to the existing Eagle Ridge District and that will require, and a plan amendment is similar to what it takes to adopt a new plan going through Agency and City Council, and it has to be completed before the 4th Monday in July. They are trying to move a lot simultaneously. When this comes back in February and if they choose to accept and move forward it should be considered by City Council in March. They would need to pause planning. Thompson asked if they have to redo the eligibility report for Eagle Ridge. Conrad stated that with deannexation they do not have to do eligibility because they are not adding parcels. Since they are taking parcels out, they do not have to do an eligibility study. Thompson asked about feasibility study. Conrad stated that on the first amendment to Eagle Ridge Plan they will have a map and survey of the area that is coming out, so they can clearly define the remainder of the project area and there will need to be an updated feasibility study, there will be a financial impact to the remaining district. They will also want to define the remaining project to be included. There will be an updated economic feasibility study. Conrad stated that they have retained a consultant lined up for the economic feasibility study for the amendment. They need to get it done by the 4th Monday for taxing purposes. Task Order 4 from the last meeting has Perspective Planning doing the economic feasibility study. They will vote on the study with a resolution in February. Conrad stated that the eligibility study will be in February with a resolution and the schedule anticipates a draft of the first amended in February or March. Radford continued to Chair. 5. Marketing and Public Outreach Regarding Agency Tools and Procedures. Radford stated that he met with Mayor Casper and Chris Lee and talked about ideas to get the word out about the tools the Agency has and the opportunities they have available. Radford stated that Eric Grosarth as part of the City is being PR for the Agency and is putting out press releases on projects. They also have Catherine Smith Economic Development Director and they have used Smith to talk to different people and Cramer can support Smith with technical information. Radford asked what else can be done. Chris Lee stated that she asked if the Agency had looked into a more proactive outreach so developers could know the tools exist and how to use them. Lee asked about educating the developers and using local jobs. Lee stated that local developers don’t know about the tools, and possibly there is training that could be brought in. Lee suggested posting events with developers that have used the Agency and they could testify about how it benefited their bottom line. Catherine Smith stated that the Mayor holds a quarterly meeting at East Idaho Home Builders home office and a presentation with that group would be beneficial. Marketing materials for her office would be helpful. The website additions have been great to walk people through. Smith feels working with Grosarth and some tangible printed materials and developer trainings for demographics would be good. Smith feels there is a cross section of home/commercial developers and if they can educate that population that is great. Radford asked Smith to investigate if they can give 30 minutes for slides and presentation materials to educate about the website and training. Smith agreed to do that moving forward. Lee stated that some of the conversation was how to get the senior level ownership and get buy in and participation from stake holders. Gazdik stated that one of the downsides to eastern Idaho is there is not representation with industry groups, and if they could have a voice with the AGC to bring them to the East side of the State and do something similar with the home builders association that could be productive. Gazdik suggested sponsoring an event to invite home builders and membership from the AGC. Burtenshaw suggested the Chamber being a resource and it could bring bigger developers who are looking for it. Radford agreed that there are big developers like Ball and Riverbend who understand it, and then there are smaller developers that don’t understand and people from outside the area are coming to take advantage of the tools. They are missing the local people builders. Smith asked what AGC is- Associated General Contractors. Brian Stevens stated that whatever Grosarth or Smith prepare, they can put in a quick graphic of how TIF works and share that, so the developers can understand quickly. Radford asked about a power point that can be put into the website. Gazdik proposed a private and public partnership that would sponsor an event to bring the information to the local contractors. Lee stated that they want the developers to be successful and they need to figure out how to educate so there is not a failing district. Smith was asked to look into connections with Chamber of Commerce and Radford asked Stevens to find 4 or 5 slides to give a basic TIF overview. 6. RAI and Legislative Update. Conrad stated that there is a concept being floated around as an additional tool that can be used by local government, and there could be corresponding revisions to Urban Renewal Law. The understanding is that the new tool would be similar to the existing Infrastructure Act, but more geared toward commercial and industrial support. Thompson moved to adjourn the meeting, Gazdik seconded the motion passed unanimously. Kirk Larsen will now be at the City Council. Next Regular Meeting: February 15, 2024. Radford adjourned the meeting at 1:15 p.m. Respectfully Submitted: Beckie Thompson